Located across the Chippewa River in Chippewa Falls, this massive through truss is an iconic railroad bridge in the city.
The bridge was originally built 1891, and consisted of six Quadrangular Through Truss spans, set onto timber substructures. In addition, the bridge was approached by trestle on each end.
Historic photo of the bridge
The bridge remained largely unchanged until July 20th, 1993. On this date, someone intentionally set the bridge on fire, causing the northern two spans to fail.
As a response, three deck girder spans were brought in from a nearby bridge over Lake Wissota, and were installed on steel pile piers. The Lake Wissota bridge was originally built in 1916.
For another 20 years, the bridge again remained unchanged. However, in 2014, the bridge was upgraded to handle modern sand loads.
The remaining wooden piers were replaced, and the approaches were replaced with modular concrete beam spans. In addition, the trusses were heavily strengthened at this time.
Overall, the bridge in good condition. Recent rehabilitations likely make this bridge safe from demolition for the near future.
The author has ranked this bridge as being highly significant, due to the old age and unique rebuilds.
Below, Tom Larson contributed photos of the bridge fire, contributed by Tom Larson. The photo above is a current overview of the structure.
| Upstream | Lake Wissota Bridge |
| Downstream | UP Chippewa River Bridge |
Tom Larson Photos
